| Founded | San Francisco, California, United States |
| Headquarters | 795 Folsom Street, Suite 600, San Francisco, CA 94107, United States[1] |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Key people | Jack Dorsey (Executive Chairman) Dick Costolo (CEO) Evan Williams (Director) Biz Stone (Creative director) |
| Website | |
| Alexa rank | |
| Type of site | |
| Registration | Required (to post, follow or be followed) |
| Multilingual, including Dutch, English, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish, Chinese, Hindi, Tagalog and Malay. | |
| Launched | July 15, 2006. |
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets", and images.
Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July. Twitter rapidly gained worldwide popularity, with 200 million users as of 2011, generating over 200 million tweets and handling over 1.6 billion search queries per day. It is sometimes described as the "SMS of the Internet."
Twitter Inc., the company that operates the service and associated website, is based in San Francisco, with additional servers and offices in San Antonio, Boston, and New York City.
History
Creation
Twitter's origins lie in a "daylong brainstorming session" held by board members of the podcasting company Odeo. Dorsey introduced the idea of an individual using an SMS service to communicate with a small group. The original project code name for the service was twttr, an idea that Williams later ascribed to Noah Glass, inspired by Flickr and the five-character length of American SMS short codes. The developers initially considered "10958" as a short code, but later changed it to "40404" for "ease of use and memorability."Work on the project started on March 21, 2006, when Dorsey published the first Twitter message at 9:50 PM Pacific Standard Time (PST): "just setting up my twttr"."...we came across the word 'twitter', and it was just perfect. The definition was 'a short burst of inconsequential information,' and 'chirps from birds'. And that's exactly what the product was." – Jack Dorsey
The first Twitter prototype was used as an internal service for Odeo employees and the full version was introduced publicly on July 15, 2006. In October 2006, Biz Stone, Evan Williams, Dorsey, and other members of Odeo formed Obvious Corporation and acquired Odeo and all of its assets–including Odeo.com and Twitter.com–from the investors and shareholders.Williams fired Glass who was silent about his part in Twitter's startup until 2011.Twitter spun off into its own company in April 2007.
Reaction
The tipping point for Twitter's popularity was the 2007 South by Southwest (SXSW) festival. During the event, Twitter usage increased from 20,000 tweets per day to 60,000. "The Twitter people cleverly placed two 60-inch plasma screens in the conference hallways, exclusively streaming Twitter messages," remarked Newsweek's Steven Levy. "Hundreds of conference-goers kept tabs on each other via constant twitters. Panelists and speakers mentioned the service, and the bloggers in attendance touted it."Reaction at the festival was highly positive. Blogger Scott Beale said that Twitter "absolutely rul[ed]" SXSW. Social software researcher Danah Boyd said Twitter "own[ed]" the festival.Twitter staff received the festival's Web Award prize with the remark "we'd like to thank you in 140 characters or less. And we just did!"
Previous Twitter logo, used until September 14, 2010.
The first unassisted off-Earth Twitter message was posted from the International Space Station by NASA astronaut T. J. Creamer on January 22, 2010. By late November 2010, an average of a dozen updates per day were posted on the astronauts' communal account, @NASA_Astronauts. NASA has also hosted over 25 "tweetups", events that provide guests with VIP access to NASA facilities and speakers with the goal of leveraging participants' social networks to further the outreach goals of NASA.In August 2010, the company appointed Adam Bain as President of Revenue from News Corp.'s Fox Audience Network.
On September 14, 2010, Twitter launched a redesigned site including a new logo.
Growth
The company experienced rapid growth. It had 400,000 tweets posted per quarter in 2007. This grew to 100 million tweets posted per quarter in 2008. In February 2010, Twitter users were sending 50 million tweets per day. By March 2010, the company recorded over 70,000 registered applications.[34] As of June 2010, about 65 million tweets were posted each day, equaling about 750 tweets sent each second, according to Twitter. As noted on Compete.com, Twitter moved up to the third-highest-ranking social networking site in January 2009 from its previous rank of twenty-second.[36]Twitter's usage spikes during prominent events. For example, a record was set during the 2010 FIFA World Cup when fans wrote 2,940 tweets per second in the thirty-second period after Japan scored against Cameroon on June 14, 2010. The record was broken again when 3,085 tweets per second were posted after the Los Angeles Lakers' victory in the 2010 NBA Finals on June 17, 2010,[37] and then again at the close of Japan's victory over Denmark in the World Cup when users published 3,283 tweets per second.[38] The current record was set during the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Final between Japan and the United States, when 7,196 tweets per second were published. When American singer Michael Jackson died on June 25, 2009, Twitter servers crashed after users were updating their status to include the words "Michael Jackson" at a rate of 100,000 tweets per hour.
Twitter acquired application developer Atebits on April 11, 2010. Atebits had developed the Apple Design Award-winning Twitter client Tweetie for the Mac and iPhone. The application, now called "Twitter" and distributed free of charge, is the official Twitter client for the iPhone, iPad and Mac.
From September through October 2010, the company began rolling out "New Twitter", an entirely revamped edition of twitter.com. Changes included the ability to see pictures and videos without leaving Twitter itself by clicking on individual tweets which contain links to images and clips from a variety of supported websites including YouTube, Flickr, as well as a complete overhaul of the interface, which shifted links such as '@mentions' and 'Retweets' above the Twitter stream, while 'Messages and 'Log Out' became accessible via a black bar at the very top of twitter.com. As of November 1, 2010, the company confirmed that the "New Twitter experience" had been rolled out to all users.
On April 5, 2011, Twitter tested a new homepage, as well as phased out the "Old Twitter." However, a glitch came about after the page was launched, so the previous "retro" homepage was still in use until the issues were resolved. On April 20, 2011, the new homepage was reintroduced, though the "Switch to Old Twitter" option is still available to users.
Features
Twitter has been compared to a web-based Internet Relay Chat (IRC) client.Tweets are publicly visible by default; however, senders can restrict message delivery to just their followers. Users can tweet via the Twitter website, compatible external applications (such as for smartphones), or by Short Message Service (SMS) available in certain countries. While the service is free, accessing it through SMS may incur phone service provider fees.
Users may subscribe to other users' tweets – this is known as following and subscribers are known as followers or tweeps (Twitter + peeps).
Twitter allows users the ability to update their profile by using their mobile phone either by text messaging or by apps released for certain smartphones / tablets.
In a 2009 Time essay, technology author Steven Johnson described the basic mechanics of Twitter as "remarkably simple":
As a social network, Twitter revolves around the principle of followers. When you choose to follow another Twitter user, that user's tweets appear in reverse chronological order on your main Twitter page. If you follow 20 people, you'll see a mix of tweets scrolling down the page: breakfast-cereal updates, interesting new links, music recommendations, even musings on the future of education.
In June 2008, Twitter launched a verification program, allowing celebrities to get their accounts verified. Originally intended to help users verify which celebrity accounts were created by the celebrities themselves (and therefore are not fake), they have since been used to verify accounts of businesses and accounts for public figures who may not actually tweet but still wish to maintain control over the account that bears their name - for example, the Dalai Lama. Verified accounts can identified by a white check in a blue background, known as a verification badge, next to the user's full name, on the profile itself or next to the name in search resultsMessages
Users can group posts together by topic or type by use of hashtags – words or phrases prefixed with a"#" sign. Similarly, the "@" sign followed by a username is used for mentioning or replying to other users.[52] To repost a message from another Twitter user, and share it with one's own followers, the retweet function is symbolized by "RT" in the message.In late 2009, the "Twitter Lists" feature was added, making it possible for users to follow (as well as mention and reply to) ad-hoc lists of authors instead of individual authors.
Through SMS, users can communicate with Twitter through five gateway numbers: short codes for the United States, Canada, India, New Zealand, and an Isle of Man-based number for international use. There is also a short code in the United Kingdom which is only accessible to those on the Vodafone, O2 and Orange networks. In India, since Twitter only supports tweets from Bharti Airtel, an alternative platform called smsTweet was set up by a user to work on all networks. A similar platform called GladlyCastexists for mobile phone users in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines.
The messages were initially set to 140-character limit for compatibility with SMS messaging, introducing the shorthand notation and slang commonly used in SMS messages. The 140-character limit has also increased the usage of URL shortening services such as bit.ly, goo.gl, and tr.im, and content-hosting services, such as Twitpic, memozu.com and NotePub to accommodate multimedia content and text longer than 140 characters. Twitter uses bit.ly for automatic shortening of all URLs posted on its website.
Tweet contents
Content of Tweets according to Pear Analytics. 
News
Spam
Self-promotion
Pointless babble
Conversational
Pass-along value
San Antonio-based market-research firm Pear Analytics analyzed 2,000 tweets (originating from the US and in English) over a two-week period in August 2009 from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM (CST) and separated them into six categories: - Pointless babble – 40%
- Conversational – 38%
- Pass-along value – 9%
- Self-promotion – 6%
- Spam – 4%
- News – 4%[61]
Rankings
Twitter is ranked as one of the ten-most-visited websites worldwide by Alexa's web traffic analysis. Daily user estimates vary as the company does not publish statistics on active accounts. A February 2009 Compete.com blog entry ranked Twitter as the third most used social network based on their count of 6 million unique monthly visitors and 55 million monthly visits. In March 2009, a Nielsen.com blog ranked Twitter as the fastest-growing website in the Member Communities category for February 2009. Twitter had annual growth of 1,382 percent, increasing from 475,000 unique visitors in February 2008 to 7 million in February 2009. It was followed by Zimbio with a 240 percent increase, and Facebook with a 228 percent increase. However, Twitter has a user retention rate of forty percent.Adding and following content
There are numerous tools for adding content, monitoring content and conversations including Tweetdeck, Salesforce.com, HootSuite, and Twitterfeed. Less than half of tweets are posted using the web user interface with most users using third-party applications (based on analysis of 500 million tweets by Sysomos).Demographics
| Twitter.com Top5 Global Markets by Reach (%) | ||||
| COUNTRY | Percent | |||
| Indonesia Jun-2010 | | 20.8% | ||
| Indonesia Dec-2010 | | 19.0% | ||
| Brazil Jun-2010 | | 20.5% | ||
| Brazil Dec-2010 | | 21.8% | ||
| Venezuela Jun-2010 | | 19.0% | ||
| Venezuela Dec-2010 | | 21.1% | ||
| Netherlands Jun-2010 | | 17.7% | ||
| Netherlands Dec-2010 | | 22.3% | ||
| Japan Jun-2010 | | 16.8% | ||
| Japan Dec-2010 | | 20.0% | ||
Twitter is mainly used by older adults who might not have used other social sites before Twitter, said Jeremiah Owyang, an industry analyst studying social media. "Adults are just catching up to what teens have been doing for years," he said. According to comScore only eleven percent of Twitter's users are aged twelve to seventeen. comScore attributes this to Twitter's "early adopter period" when the social network first gained popularity in business settings and news outlets attracting primarily older users. However, comScore as of late, has stated that Twitter has begun to "filter more into the mainstream", and "along with it came a culture of celebrity as Shaq, Britney Spears and Ashton Kutcher joined the ranks of the Twitterati."
According to a study by Sysomos in June 2009, women make up a slightly larger Twitter demographic than men — fifty-three percent over forty-seven percent. It also stated that five percent of users accounted for seventy-five percent of all activity, and that New York has the most Twitter users.
According to Quancast, twenty-seven million people in the US used Twitter as of September 3, 2009. Sixty-three percent of Twitter users are less than thirty-five years old; sixty percent of Twitter users are Caucasian, but a higher than average (compared to other Internet properties) are African American (sixteen percent) and Hispanic (eleven percent); fifty-eight percent of Twitter users have a total household income of at least $60,000.
On September 7, 2011, Twitter announced that it has 100 million active users logging in at least once a month and 50 million active users every day.
Technology
Implementation
The Twitter Web interface uses the Ruby on Rails framework, deployed on a performance enhanced Ruby Enterprise Edition implementation of Ruby.From the spring of 2007 until 2008 the messages were handled by a Ruby persistent queue server called Starling, but since 2009 implementation has been gradually replaced with software written in Scala. The service's application programming interface (API) allows other web services and applications to integrate with Twitter.
Integrated photo-sharing service
On June 1, 2011, Twitter announced its own integrated photo-sharing service that enables users to upload a photo and attach it to a Tweet right from Twitter.com.Users now also have the ability to add pictures to Twitter's search by adding hashtags to the tweet. Twitter also plans to provide photo galleries designed to gather and syndicate all photos that a user has uploaded on Twitter and third-party services such as TwitPic.Decentralized architecture
The traditional centralized client-server architecture has not scaled with user demand, leading to server overload and significant loss of availability. There is some decentralized architecture to enhance the scalability of Twitter including Fethr and Cuckoo.Uses
Dorsey (left) said after a Twitter Town Hall held in July 2011, that Twitter received over 110,000 #AskObama tweets.
Main article: Twitter usage
Twitter has been used for a variety of purposes in many different industries and scenarios. For example, it has been used to organize protests, sometimes referred to as "Twitter Revolutions" and which include the 2011 Egyptian protests, 2010–2011 Tunisian protests, 2009–2010 Iranian election protests, and 2009 Moldova civil unrest. The service has also been used in emergencies and political campaigning.It is also used for direct communication among social groups and organizations, with the use of "hashtags." For instance, #edchat, used at the end of a tweet, means that the communication will be viewed by all users who follow the topic which refers to an ongoing chat among educators.[citation needed]
Twitter is also increasingly used for making TV more interactive and social. This effect is sometimes referred to as the "virtual watercooler" or social television. Twitter has been used successfully to encourage people to watch live TV events, such as the Oscars, the Super Bowl and the MTV Video Music Awards; this strategy has however proven less effective with regularly scheduled TV shows. Such direct cross-promotions have been banned from French television due to regulations against secret advertising.[148]
Reception
In 2006, when Twitter launched under the name "Twttr", Michael Arrington of TechCrunch commented that although he liked the service, he also noted that he felt uncomfortable with the fact that every user's Twitter page is available to the public.Change of focus
On November 22, 2010, Biz Stone, a cofounder of the company, expressed for the first time the idea of a Twitter news network, a concept of wire-like news service he has been working on for years.
Social impact
Data from over 800,000 users of OkCupid show that, across all ages, daily posters to Twitter had shorter relationships than everyone else. A recent study also shows that 13% of the Americans on the web used Twitter making it one of the most popular services in the United States.Censorship
Censorship of Twitter
Main article: Censorship of Twitter
Censorship of Twitter has occurred in Iran, China, Egypt, and South Korea.Alleged censorship of WikiLeaks by Twitter
In December 2010, allegations were made by several IT-news websites and other media reporting that Twitter appeared to engage in censorship activities by impeding WikiLeaks related tweets from becoming trending topics, despite high numbers of tweets concerning WikiLeaks due to activities such as the United States diplomatic cables leak. However, Twitter has denied any involvement with altering Trend results explaining that "WikiLeaks and cablegate have trended worldwide or in specific locations."List of Twitter services and applications
This is a list of notable Twitter services and applications. These various services and applications are designed to work with or enhance the micro-blogging service Twitter. They are designed with various goals - many aim to improve Twitter's functionality while others set out to make the service more accessible, particularly from other devices. Some applications allow users to send messages (called tweets) directly while others give users the ability to create more complex tweets which they then have to manually post through Twitter itself.| Name  | Platform | Notes |
| Website and iPhone app | Follow and view tweets from celebrities and popular people around the world.[1] | |
| Website | Tracks conversations/mentions between users on Twitter.[2] | |
| Website | ||
| KDE Desktop Environment | ||
| Twitter application for iPhone, Firefox and Mac OS, featuring synchronization across clients, and push notifications for iPhone OS. | ||
| Desktop application | feedalizr is a cross-platform, desktop social media aggregator, including Twitter, built using Adobe AIR. | |
| Website | ||
| Website | Track games being played by you, and automatically rebroadcast gameplay to Twitter. | |
| GNOME Desktop Environment | ||
| Client, website | ||
| iOS and desktop application | ||
| Website | An application that allows users to send tweets, direct message, reply, retweet, follow and search Twitter from any email inbox. | |
| Website | Allows Qapacity users to manually post updates to Twitter and to automatically update their followers when they add a new service, a new blog post, a service recommendation or when they update their portfolio. | |
| Web application and desktop | A data mining, analytics, and brand engagement service provider. | |
| Web application, desktop application, Android, and BlackBerry | ||
| iPhone | Twitter client with support for Apple's push notification service. | |
| Users phone a specific number and leave a voicemail; a tweet is automatically posted on Twitter with a link to the voice message stored on Google's SayNow. | ||
| Windows | A Windows desktop application created with Visual Basic .NET. | |
| Desktop application | A desktop application for Windows and Mac built using Adobe AIR allowing users to track their followers, tweets and direct messages plus transfer targeted traffic onto their email lists via direct ad-space. TweetGlide also has a special feature whereby members can tweet over the 140 character limit. TweetGlide was released on October 28, 2009. | |
| A desktop application created with Adobe AIR (only for the desktop version) which allows users to filter and group their own and others' tweets. The iPhone version was released on June 16, 2009. | ||
| Official clients; allowing users to access and update multiple Twitter accounts at the same time. | ||
| Website | A website where users can purchase custom Twitter backgrounds and avatars for their Twitter profile/account. | |
| Website | An applications directory for Twitter with over 2000 applications making it easy to find a Twitter tool that fits your needs. | |
| Website | A website where users can upload images to their Twitter feed.[3] | |
| iOS and website | Twitterfall is a way of viewing the latest 'tweets' of upcoming trends and custom searches on the micro-blogging site Twitter. Updates fall from the top of the page in near-realtime. | |
| An application allowing users to access Twitter and post tweets. | ||
| Website | Twoint.com allows users to quickly see the most useful and relevant tweets in several categories: news, sports, humor, and celebrities. The site allows users to apply filters (ie, to show only tweets pertaining to a specific sports team, or a specific news category) and filters out irrelevant replies and retweets. |
Twitter is the best way to discover what’s new in your world.
An information network
Twitter is a real-time information network that connects you to the latest information about what you find interesting. Simply find the public streams you find most compelling and follow the conversations.At the heart of Twitter are small bursts of information called Tweets. Each Tweet is 140 characters in length, but don’t let the small size fool you—you can share a lot with a little space. Connected to each Tweet is a rich details pane that provides additional information, deeper context and embedded media. You can tell your story within your Tweet, or you can think of a Tweet as the headline, and use the details pane to tell the rest with photos, videos and other media content. See it in action.
You don’t have to tweet to get value from Twitter
You don’t have to build a web page to surf the web and you don’t have to tweet to enjoy Twitter. Whether you tweet 100 times a day or never, you still have access to the voices and information surrounding what interests you. You can contribute, or just listen in and retrieve up to the second information. Some people never tweet, they simply use Twitter as a way to get the latest information on their interests.Twitter for Businesses
For more information, check out Twitter 101 for Businesses, our guide to doing business on Twitter.
Twitter around the world
Twitter on the go
Twitter for SMS
Individuals, businesses and social causes can use Twitter for SMS and our Fast Follow program to connect directly to anyone with a mobile phone. Twitter for SMS is an instant infrastructure for mobile communications. Here’s a list of all the countries that offer Twitter for SMS. We are actively working to add more countries and more short-codes to the list everyday. Check back for updates.Twitter and the Community
Animoto
In the works since 2005, Animoto was founded to help people better share their stories and express themselves through online media by innovating technologies in the field of video production. Using the latest in entertainment post-production technologies, Animoto is designed to bridge the gap between the high production value of film and television, and the more "amateur" feeling of most user-created videos and photo albums.
The heart of Animoto is its newly developed patent-pending Cinematic Artificial Intelligence technology that thinks like an actual director and editor. It analyzes and combines user-selected images, video clips and music with the same sophisticated post-production skills and techniques that are used in television & film.Based in New York City with an office in San Francisco, the founders of Animoto include veterans of the entertainment industry and have produced shows for MTV, Comedy Central, & ABC, studied music in London, and played in indie rock bands in Seattle.
The company continues to innovate in the field of creative artificial intelligence, and plans to acquire Google next year.
FOR EDUCATION- Animoto is one of the marvels of Web 2.0. It is a wonderful initiative and a true benefit to teachers and students.
— Discovery Education
What makes Animoto special?
Animoto provides an array of tools for creating videos in your classroom. Browse some of the features of our Plus account below then check out individual case studies to see how others are already using us.Cinematic A.I.
Animoto automatically analyzes music, photos and video clips, and orchestrates a custom video. Leaving you and your students free to focus on the content and narrative of their videos.Spotlight
Spotlight lets you give specific image added prominence and screen time in your video.Include text
Mix relevant messaging, statistics and quotes among the pictures your videos to educate your audience and inspire them to action.Share and download
Animoto makes it easy to share your videos via email, on a blog/website, exported to YouTube, or downloaded to a computer for use in presentations.Educators are using Animoto in the classroom
FEATURES
Overview
Animoto automatically produces beautifully orchestrated, completely unique video pieces from your photos, video clips, and music.
Choose your images
Animoto syncs with Facebook, Flickr, Picasa, Photobucket, and SmugMug to get your images in a snap. Add text and emphasize specific images with the touch of a button.
Choose music
Music is at the heart of an Animoto video — upload your own mp3 or choose from our collection of tunes in several different genres.
Watch & share
Watch your video in HD on Animoto.com or share it on Facebook, YouTube, your blog, or a DVD. It's fast and easy to post to websites or download.
Easy SharingShare your videos on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, MySpace, Tumblr, via email or with our free iPhone app. Animoto videos like to travel.
Embed Animoto videos in your website or blog with a single line of code.
Unique Styles
The video style will determine the look and feel of your video. Every Animoto video is completely unique because our Cinematic Artificial Intelligence analyzes the nuances of your images, video, and music. You control the types of effects, backgrounds, and transitions by selecting a video style. Some styles are abstract while others are themed for a special occasion or time of year. There’s an Animoto style that’s perfect for every story, event, or theme.
Animoto Pro gives you access to exclusive styles designed for, and approved by, professional photographers and business owners. Elegant and creative, these styles are perfect for showcasing photography, real estate, or products.
Music LibraryMusic has a huge impact on your final video. Choose a slower song, and your video will appear more subdued. A fast song will add to the intensity of transitions and effects. Animoto Lite and Plus give you access to a library of 13 genres. You can use these songs for personal videos on Facebook, YouTube, or blog. If you don’t like our tunes, you can always upload your own MP3.
Music licensed for commercial use is expensive and a pain to manage. Whether you’re a photographer reselling your video or a business advertising on YouTube, we take care of the licensing headaches for you. Animoto Pro is loaded with over 1000 commercially licensed songs in 15 different genres.
Cinematic Artificial Intelligence
At the heart of Animoto is its newly developed Cinematic Artificial Intelligence technology that thinks like an actual director and editor. It analyzes and combines user-selected images, video clips and music with the same sophisticated post-production skills and techniques used in television & film.
The technology takes into account every nuance of a song - the genre, song structure, energy, rhythm, instrumentation, and vocals. Whether it's punk, pop, hip-hop or a classical Mozart piece, every Animoto video is totally customized. Even videos generated with an identical set of images and music will each have a completely distinct set of motion design. No two videos are the same.
ACTIVITIES
For MI
1. Create an instructional Video using ANIMOTO/SLIDESHOWS pro in
Your classroom lesson.
2.Create Music video using Animoto.
For HOTS
1. By using your twitter account(or make an account if you don’t have),set any educational related topic/s and make a research in that topic/s by having an inquiry on ” what are their opinions about the topic” from your friends who are using twitter. Then analyze their answers and report your findings in the class.
2. Using your twitter account make a research on the latest trend/issue that are click on this site, then have a research about the issue/trend.
